I knew there was some form of consent granted in a “you’ve already decided this, I’m consenting for show only” kind of way but this is exactly the kind of abuse that a constitutional monarchy is supposed to avoid.

ultimately a big problem with constitutional monarchy of any kind is it’s still monarchy. it’s hard to square the democratic values, fairness, or equality that is associated with liberal democracy with having a totally unelected institution whose claim to that position is derived almost invariably from religious legitimacy and being the “right” family. (and conversely, it’s very easy for a monarchy to undermine democratic processes and take more power for itself than it ought to have)

Here’s an example: Ministers sought Charles’s consent to pass conservation laws affecting his business

Environment minister Rebecca Pow wrote to the then Prince of Wales in 2019 to ask if he would accept section seven of the environment bill, which became law in November 2021.